Carbon Capture and Storage: Saving the Planet or Delaying the Inevitable?

Carbon capture and storage refers to geoengineering technologies that capture carbon directly from where it is emitter, convert it into substances stored underground, and prevent the carbon from entering the atmosphere. Such technology has shown great potential to address climate change given its ability to reduce human carbon emissions into the atmosphere.

However, there are also doubts surrounding this technology. Carbon capture technology is also perceived as a way businesses can get away with their carbon-emitting activities. They allow the emitters to continue environment-degrading activities without facing the pressure to alter these behaviors.

Also, the long-term impacts of these geoengineering technologies are relatively unexplored given how new they are. It may also be very costly and difficult to find places suitable for the storage of converted carbon. Although carbon capture and storage sounds like an appealing solution to the climate crisis, it is not capable of being used on a mass-scale and with total guarantee that there will be no negative side effects just now.

While developments such as the carbon capture and storage technology do boost our progress towards solving the climate crisis, it is still important to work on mitigation solutions such as restricting and changing the fundamental human activities that lead to emissions.